Chris Matthews issued a torrent of invective at Newt Gingrich on Tuesday's "Hardball," attacking the GOP contender's character and warning against his nomination.

The MSNBC host lamented the current state of American politics, which he said was defined by Gingrich's rise and Barney Frank's departure. He said of Gingrich, "ever since he arrived on the national scene, politics has been nastier, more feral, too often uglier."

Matthews mocked Gingrich as a petty man who "is still mad he was made by Bill Clinton to enter Air Force One from the rear." He called Gingrich a "character assassin" who came to power over "the bodies of Democratic leaders he’d charged with corruption."

Moreover, he warned that Gingrich's nomination would be dangerous for the spirit of American politics. He charged that Gingrich "will say what works to hurt Obama even if the weapon kicks back at him," portraying the GOP contender as wielding a "broken beer bottle."

Newt Gingrich's nomination "promises a grotesquery to make even the most hard-nosed of us avert our glance in embarrassment and sadness for our republic," Matthews said.